Category Archives: Country life

Odds & sods

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The highlight of this month (as in every February) is Ellie’s birthday. Our girl is six. I am so proud of what a smart, kind, enthusiastic, giving, curious person she is. It’s amazing to watch her grow and learn and see who she is becoming.

We celebrated with treats at school, a trip to a butterfly conservatory, a party with friends here at the farm and dinners (yes, plural) with cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents. It’s been a big birthday month.

Online, it’s easy to present a “highlight reel.” Only those moments that are shiny and idyllic. We have lots of those in our life. But there’s also reality. A sixth birthday is exciting. It’s also exhausting, and there are lots of big feelings to go with that.

Baking cakes, finding the right presents, planning special outings, designing an epic scavenger hunt, and coordinating everything all take a lot of energy too. (Though it’s worth it for all of the fun things I was able to do with our girl.) While my mood swings have been less than Ellie’s, I’m ending this month pretty tired.

But it’s winter break for the college, so I will be taking advantage of not teaching to regroup this week. My to-do list is a bit ambitious, but hopefully I can find some rest too.

Amongst the busy birthday-ness of the month, here are some things that caught my attention.

This historic mansion is for sale. I can’t decide if my favourite feature is the porch or the staircase.

Beyonce’s new song has been stuck in my head since the Super Bowl. It’s certainly catchy, but I wouldn’t mind some peace and quiet. (Anyone want to learn the dance with me?)

Anything can be listified. Ellie got this book for Christmas and it’s been so interesting to read together. (It is great for “stumble upon” learning.)

My book of the month. (I’ve ordered book two in the hopes that I’ve found a new mystery series to read.)

Inspiration for my next trip with Ellie. (Matt’s Mom’s family is Swiss, so that gives us a great excuse to go, right?)

“Rest is not the absence of activity but the presence of peace.”

Jo Saxton

I will be finishing February with marking, lesson planning, catching up with some clients, income tax prep, sap boiling, a trip to the dentist, lunch with my Mom and hopefully meeting up with another friend. My big hope is that I’ll have time to work on the finishing touches for Ellie’s room, so I can share a reveal of that soon. It’s a leap year. Maybe that extra day will do the trick.

Have you had any special celebrations in February? How are you spending your leap year?

On goals, targets, tracking

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In case it’s not clear, I like having plans and goals. The blog is a great way to hold myself accountable. Whether it’s home goals or the One Room Challenge, saying publicly, “I’m going to do something” gives me extra motivation to follow through.

(BTW, if productivity, discipline, focus and motivation are among your goals for 2024, this podcast has some good tips.)

Tracking progress is also motivating. As I was setting new home goals for 2024 and looking back at how I did in 2023, I started thinking about some other things I tracked last year. So in the spirit of motivation and accountability, I’m going to share them here.

Walking

Hiking with Cigo is one of my favourite things to do. Last year, we hiked 466.3km. (I use the Map My Walk app.) This is about 39km a month. I’d like to see if we can make it 42km a month this year (the distance of a marathon). To be honest, we’re probably already there, as I don’t track walks we do around the farm or hikes with Ellie. But I’ll continue to skip those and try to find an extra 3km in my month. Hiking is pretty much my only exercise (aside from working around the farm), so increasing this would not be a bad thing.

Monkey Bars

I have one “workout” that I added to my routine last summer. The route I walk on Sundays includes a small set of monkey bars. So since the summer (after hearing on the 1,000 Hours Outside podcast about the benefits of different types of movement and hanging), I have been trying to do the monkey bars. At first, I fell off every time. But by December, I made it to the end–eight monkey bars. Yesterday, I turned around and did them twice. What else should I try? A chin up?

Reading

Last year I tracked the books I read for the first time. Reading is a huge part of my life (and I’m still a paper-reading, library-visiting bibliophile). In 2023, I read 63 books (plus 2 that I didn’t finish). Finishing Louise Penny’s Inspector Gamache series accounted for a 13 of those books. Another 15 were non-fiction. To Speak For The Trees by Diana Beresford-Kroeger (please consider reading any of her books–she is amazing on nature and climate change) and Outlive by Peter Attia were standouts. I’m hoping I’ll make it to 50 books in 2024.

1,000 Hours Outside

This will be our fourth year doing the 1,000 Hours Outside challenge. I love this movement and have come to believe strongly in the value of free play, unstructured time, and time outside. Last year, we spent 1,108 hours outside and made it to 1,000 on Nov. 3. I’m curious how we’ll do this year. This is a challenge that even when you lose, you win.

Family Albums

I started making a yearly family photobook when Ellie was born, but I’ve missed a few years. I recently made our 2023 album, and it’s so lovely to have all of those memories in one convenient place. (I use Blurb.) I’m motivated to go back and make the missing books.

Rest

My word of the year. Rest is truly a challenge for me. My goal in January (and continuing) was to be in bed around 11 two nights a week. Coming up with a strategy (finish work at 10, take Cigo out, brush teeth, read for a few minutes to try to turn off my brain) and a target (2 nights a week) is very helpful. I also instituted a rule that I can’t start anything new after 11, so on those nights I don’t shut down by 11, I’m trying to be not too many hours beyond it. I’ve also started plugging my phone in to charge in the mudroom by 10, which helps to remove one source of distraction and delay. So far I’m doing not too bad. I also downloaded a habit tracking sheet from Passion Planner so I can note the nights that I achieve my goal.

Speaking of Passion Planner, it is a really good goal setting, task prioritizing tool. I’ve used this planner for more than 5 years. I also tried “time boxing” recently, a technique recommended by Nir Eyal on the podcast I mentioned above, and it’s helped me to plan my time and feel more focused.

Writing this post, I found it interesting that so many of my goals are about well-being. Making good use of my time, getting outside, spending time together, relaxing, being healthier, and holding onto memories are all part of the overall quality of our life. It’s worthwhile to spend some time thinking–and writing–about them.

What activities do you track? Do you have any goals that are more personal this year?

Odds & sods

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How has the beginning of 2024 been for you? Ours has been up and down. We had some birthdays and get-togethers, and we had some lows. We sledded in the fields and skated on the pond, and then watched the water level rise in a big thaw.

Friday was Matt’s and my 16th wedding anniversary. The day hurts less, but it’s still hard that he’s not here for it. As I was heading out to pick up Ellie from school, I turned on my music in the car, and the first song that came on (when I picked a random shuffle) was the song we danced to at our wedding.

At first, I wasn’t really in the mood. I believe I said something like, “Really? You think I can handle this right now?” But then I quickly switched to being grateful. Matt, my Dad, his Mom, the universe, whoever was sending me a message, and it was coming from a place of love.

Some people would say that moments like this are just coincidence. But I don’t agree. For me, they’re a sign that the universe is on my side. That Matt is still with me. That there is so much love.

So I turned off shuffle and put the song on repeat. Once from Matt to me, and the second time from me to him. Because while I receive what the universe gives me, I also want to send goodness out.

Here is some more giving and receiving, from me to you.

These mystery day trips were my favourite gift to give this Christmas–and they worked for kids and adults

What can the construction industry learn from Taylor Swift?

Three words to describe Arnold Schwarzenegger: surprising, impressive, thoughtful

See how many people you can smile at tomorrow

“joy is supposed to slither through
the cracks of your imperfect life…
you can only be ready
when she appears
and hug her with meaning
because in this very moment
joy chose you”

Joy Chose You by Donna Ashworth (via @harrybakerpoet)

This is the song (“Through the good times and the bad, I’ll be standing there by you”)

This week, I’m finishing off the month with something new. I’m donating blood today, which I haven’t done in many years. I’m also hoping to make a few tweaks in Ellie’s room or mine… or both if the universe is on my side.

How was January for you? Does anyone else see signs from the universe? What are you hoping to accomplish this week?

Word of the year: Rest

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I’ve been musing about what word I want to choose (last year’s word) as my guide for this year. One word keeps coming to mind, but I’ve been resisting it.

Rest.

Rest is something I’m not good at. As I’ve reflected on my words of the year, I’ve realized past words have not really been stretches for me. (Balance … Slow … Resolve … Focus … Content … Choose.)

It’s not difficult for me to focus on Ellie, Cigo, the farm. I love the life we make and I’m pretty content overall.

Rest, though. That feels hard.

Then last night, as I scrolled through my phone after Ellie went to bed, I saw this quote:

“If busyness is your drug, rest will feel like stress.”

Oh, I can identify with that.

Then another quote from the same post:

“Every single human function is improved or enhanced with sleep.”

I’ve been thinking about sleep a lot this past year. Once I go to bed, I sleep. But making myself go there is hard. Busyness wins most of the time. I can always find something else to do. Part of it is the season of life that I’m in where working til 3am sometimes feels needed. Part of it is choice.

But I’ve read about how important sleep is for long-term health, and I know I need to better.

So as I stay up later than I should tonight to write a blog post I had decided earlier today to put off, I feel like the universe is speaking to me. The word that has been floating around in my head for the last few weeks came out into the world and appeared in front of my eyes. I try to listen to the universe when it speaks. So I’m choosing rest as my word of the year.

This will be a goal for me. I’m going to have to make some changes and come up with some strategies to choose rest. But I think it’s time to stretch myself a bit more and it’s worth the attempt.

Busy is my comfort zone. Rest is not.

But here’s to a more restful 2024.

Happy New Year to you. I hope that 2024 brings goodness, whatever that looks like for you.

Merry Christmas

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I’m trying to think about what to say to wrap up this year. I write often about choosing to live a life of love and joy. That doesn’t mean that life is always easy, and this year represents that for me.

Matt’s Mom’s illness and death is an example of great love. It’s also an example of joy, as odd as that may seem. We put as much joy as possible into our time together, even while she was in the hospital. And now we try to carry on that love and joy by talking about her and including her in what we’re doing. How much she would have enjoyed the castle where we were in Ireland. How Grandma would be the best person to find Christmas pants (a critical wardrobe gap that caused much distress last week).

My teaching job this fall has been a lot of fun–and a lot of work. The feeling when I hook the students and get them arguing, discussing and thinking is awesome. I walk out of my classes energized. But there have been a lot of late nights to pull lessons together, finish marking and communicate with students. Nonetheless, I’m looking forward to next term.

As I’m writing this, Ellie is Christmas shopping with my Mom. This sums up love and joy for me–yet it’s not easy. Ellie is an incredibly giving little girl and fills Christmas with so much fun. That my Mom is giving her the experience of Christmas shopping and ensuring that I have some gifts is huge act of love. But it’s hard that Ellie doesn’t get to do this with her Daddy.

At the start of this year, I wrote about how important it is for me to choose. Choose my attitude, how I feel, how I react, how I spend my time. And choose to build my life around what is most important to me.

Life is not always easy, but choosing love and joy helps me to see more good than bad.

For Christmas, I wish you as much love and joy as possible. I will be back in 2024 with more projects, more country living and more love and joy. Merry Christmas.

Odds & sods

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“If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.”

— Desmond Tutu

Like so many people, I am watching what’s happening in Palestine and Israel (and Ukraine, Sudan and other places) right now. Like many people, I don’t know what to say. But I feel I need to say something.

Harming and killing people is wrong. Destroying and taking people’s homes is wrong (this goes for Indigenous peoples too). I believe that supporting groups or people who carry out these acts is wrong. Not speaking out for a ceasefire and working for peace is wrong.

I teach Ellie that people are different. Some people think differently than us, live differently and have different opinions about what’s important. But they deserve care, respect and peace. They deserve a home and they deserve to live.

Within our lives, we can determine our own values and make our own choices. But we are part of the world. As I wrote on Remembrance Day, it is my responsibility—everyone’s responsibility—to care for and protect each other.

Here are some other things in my thoughts these days.

On Canada Project is working to bridge information gaps, challenge divisive rhetoric, and lead important conversations grounded in human rights.

What would you do if you knew when you were going to die?

Grief is full of choices (life is too)

First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

— Martin Niemöller

Continuing the property clean up

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When I think back to our early years on the farm, I feel like we were always cleaning up. Of course, there was the house itself and all the stuff that we emptied out of it. But outside was the bigger clean up. There were plants and trees and piles of dirt and rubble and rocks. So, so many rocks.

Here we are 11 1/2 years later, and we’re still cleaning up.

This fall I tackled two areas that have been untouched since we moved in.

Beside the barn there was a mysterious mound. I figured it was rocks, but it was so covered in weeds I couldn’t tell. And hacking through well-established weed roots is not a fun job. So last year I tarped it. I love using tarps to clean up weedy sections. This fall I finally pulled the tarp off. The dead weeds easily raked off the mound, and I was able to dig in. The mound turned out to be mostly dirt, with just a few rocks. So I spread the top soil around to fill in some low spots and added the rocks to our rock pile.

The tarp had been weighted with old tires (since we have such a stash). I decided rather than finding somewhere to stack the tires, I was finally going to deal with them (and some others that have been hanging around too long). So I loaded 6 into my car (all I could fit) and took them to the recycling station. I have about 12 more to go, but it feels good to be getting rid of them finally.

I relocated the tarp to another mound near the old coop. I was able to mow some of this section and trim down a stump that Matt’s Dad had cut for me before we demoed the coop. The mound looks like mostly concrete rubble, but again it is overgrown and hard to hack through. So the tarp is going to work again, and hopefully next spring we can level this out and mow through.

(This time the tarp is weighted with lumber from the old coop that I’m going to try to reuse. The lumber had been stacked behind the barn and was well-tangled in grass, so picking it up was another clean-up. Though this time the mess was my own.)

The final clean up goes to our farmer. I’ve continued to pick away at our last junk area every so often this year. We’ve made a lot of progress and tidied things up considerably. But one of the things I uncovered was an old wire fence overgrown with vines. The fence posts were still firmly in the ground. So our farmer came by with his bigger machine and pulled the posts out for us. Now I have another clear section that I can mow through.

Sometimes it’s hard to believe how much we still have to do. How can we have been here 11 years and still be cleaning up? I know some of it is the reality of a farm where things get dumped, piled and stashed. It is also the reality of time, energy and attention. I also know everything we do is a step forward. I have six less tires, one less mound and one less fence to deal with.

Are you doing any clean-up at your house? Do you have an piles on your property? Have you ever used tarps to kill weeds? What is your never-ending project?

Thankful

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As we celebrate Thanksgiving, I am thankful for many things. But the thing I am most thankful for is time.

Time to be here. To be with Ellie. To experience so many things.

Time is precious. When this day is done, it is gone. Forever. Not every day is about making memories. Sometimes it’s just about getting through. But every day I try to be thankful that I am here and able to do the things I do.

I am thankful that I have been able to choose, for the most part, how I spend my time. I have opted out of a more traditional job to find work that serves me. This choice has given me time for Ellie, which is occasionally challenging, but mostly amazing. It has meant time for the farm, which is occasionally challenging, but mostly amazing.

It has meant fitting work into my schedule when I can (mostly at night). It has meant less money, but we are fortunate that it has been enough money.

That concept of enough is important to me. Of course I would like more money. I want to give Ellie lots of opportunities and I have a long list of renovations and plans. But we have enough money to live our lives with a pretty high level of freedom. Freedom to spend our time as we want.

There is never enough money. There is never enough time.

But I try to see money as enough, and time as more valuable than anything. An extra cuddle on the couch in the morning rather than running to make breakfast and get out the door, playtime during the day and work at night, an afternoon at a playground instead of rushing to the next thing we have to do. These simple things have become so precious to me, and I try not to take them for granted.

So today, I am saying thank you. Thank you for this day. I am thankful I am here.

Fall to-do list

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I’m feeling slightly whelmed right now. Between work, fall at the farm and the rest of my life, I have a lot to do. Fall always comes with a long to-do list… and a looming deadline of the weather. This year the pressure feels a bit more intense.

I am going back to my word of the year, and I am choosing what I focus on (another word of the year for you) right now. That means I have not cleaned the bathroom, but I am afloat with work and gearing up on some other projects and deadlines. (And my cousin is coming this afternoon to help mow the grass.)

I always work best when I break tasks down and give myself a deadline. So I’m putting my most critical fall tasks here for the record. If I can accomplish these three things before the end of the year, I will be happy.

Close out the vegetable garden

The garden did pretty well this year. But spending some time to put it to bed properly will help it do even better next year. Tops on the list are pruning the raspberries, weeding the asparagus, and tidying up our growing beds. If I can get a couple more growing beds set up that would be icing.

Close up the barn wall

The side of the barn where the old coop was is still a large hole covered with paper house wrap. I want to build a new coop inside this corner of the barn. But first I have to build a new exterior wall. I don’t want to spend another winter with the barn open, so this is a high priority task.

Clean out the barn

Matt has a lot of stuff stored in the barn. I started clearing out one section last year, and I’d really like to finish it. This is a big task that would bring me a lot of peace to complete.

There are a bunch of other small things–turning off the water, taking off the window screens, bringing some plants inside, putting away patio furniture–but those will squeeze in where they can. These bigger projects will take a bit more effort (and likely some help), but hopefully I can accomplish them by winter.

How are you doing right now? Anyone else feeling whelmed? What’s on your to-do list? Is fall a busy season for you?

Odds & sods

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September has been full, but good. School is going well for both Ellie and me. I’ve discovered I enjoy teaching. When I hook the students and see them light up is such a great moment.

We started the month with one last campout and ended with putting out the bird feeders. The leaves are changing, the nights are cooler, but there is still lots of sunshine and warmth. We’re soaking it up as much as we can.

Here are other things we were up to this month.

This video has me thinking how I can repurpose more materials when I build the chicken coop. Anyone have any old screen doors?

Would you choose this toilet for your home? (If you had $12,000 to spend on a toilet.)

Matt’s Dad grew great cherry tomatoes several years ago. I saved the seeds and grew delicious tomatoes this year. So I’m saving seeds again.

We made our tried and true brownies twice this month

Ellie is learning to read, and it’s coming so quickly. This joke book and this series have been laugh-out-loud hits.

“Death has its usefulness to the living… It creates an urgency within you. To do all that you can. To make things right. I wonder what that must feel like, to have a sense of true motivation.”

In The Lives Of Puppets by TJ Klune

We’ll be ending the month with another full week. But amongst work, school, errands and appointments we’re making time for fun. We’ll be meeting up with my friends for dinner at a local riverside hotdog stand. Friends, food and a great venue is always a special time.

How has September been for you? What have you been reading, baking or watching? Is anyone else saving seeds or moving plants indoors? Anyone else squeezing in al fresco meals or even campouts?